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A good rule of thumb is to never write a song about your own band.
Meaning, if your band’s name is Slayer, don’t write
a song called “Slayer.” Well, Damn Cheetah didn’t
really follow that rule, ripping into their eponymous song right
after you hear a growling of a cheetah as the intro to the music.
Then, sharp riffing, heavy drumming, and a visceral scream from
singer Les Brown greets you. And you know what? In this case, it
actually works. “Damn Cheetah” is a hard, guitar-driven
song, and a clear definition of what their album Primal is all about.
Damn
Cheetah’s Primal is the kind of CD that does everything
right. Do you like ballads? There are three of them here. Melodic
rockers with sing-along choruses? Chock-a-block full of ‘em.
Heavy songs with fast guitar solos and plenty of screams? No problem
…
“Maybe
Tomorrow” is one of the best tracks on Primal. While being
heavy, it also has a pop-oriented chorus, great riffing, and some
of the best vocals on the whole CD. Brown has a unique voice, making
the band sound somewhat like XYZ at times. And that’s a compliment.
The
first ballad you’ll find here is called “Forever.”
It starts with a ghostly acoustic guitar, and a whisper, “forever.”
Here, Brown takes the edge off his voice, smoothes it out, and sings
with quite a bit of passion. He sounds forlorn. Good stuff.
The
band does get off track on the silly “Love Thunder,”
though. Love thunder, really? Anyway, this song has a cool groove
to it, “thunderous” drumming, but the lyrics just get
in the way. Probably should have tried to write anything besides
the line, “baby you give me schoolin’ in the things
I’ve never been taught …”
Luckily,
that was really their one weak spot on the entire disk, and the
next song gets Damn Cheetah back on track. “Some Kinda Woman,”
has a Led Zepplin-ish sound, both musically and vocally, and is
fun in the right way.
Another
ballad comes up next, “Without Your Love,” the guitar
sounding somewhat like a Damn Yankees’ tune. They do this
sort of song with aplomb, because the music and the vocals actually
sound earnest. They don’t walk through the ballads, but put
everything into them.
Some
other highlights are the bluesy song that sounds like Dio at the
chorus called “King of the Hill,” and the last song,
another poignant ballad, simply called “Tonight.”
All
in all, the band is tight musically, the vocalist is skilled, and
the songwriting is sound. The only reason a band like this isn’t
huge today is because people have horrible taste in music today.
Definitely check out Damn Cheetah’s Primal. You can check
them out at www.damncheetah.com
or their label, www.kivelrecords.com.
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